Dry Tears

QUICK UPDATE:

As you can see on this radar, IKE barely missed us in the Austin/Round Rock area. We were teased all day long with sporadic gusts of wind...

And not a single drop of rain.

We have a 20% chance of rain tomorrow (Sunday) Should I hold my breath?

By the way; the drought here is so bad, I called my insurance company last month to assess the damage. My house is cracking and falling apart. Insurance said "drought damage" isn't in the books. Not only would they not pay for it, but... they raised our house insurance.

It's so dry here, I can't even cry.

Chicken Fried Rice

Dinner was a success! I have to share this recipe with you. The fried rice was better than good -- It was FABULOUS! No more buying premade from the stores. I plan to premake this in batches and freeze for instant meals.

Here's the steps I took:
Pan fry boneless chicken in a wok with peanut oil and garlic salt.

Cook a pot of white rice. Make those cookies...
After chicken is cooked and diced, chop FRESH carrots and celery. Add frozen peas and two or three eggs. Allow veggies to heat and scramble eggs. I added green onions fresh from my garden. Salt and stir ingredients. It's important to cook this in the leftover peanut oil and chicken juice.
Mix in cooked rice, and add Soy Sauce.
Serve with your favorite side dishes! WOW! I love Chinese food so much, I bought a set of dishes, just for the occasion.

INGREDIENTS NEEDED:

Boneless chicken

Peanut oil

Garlic salt

Soy Sauce

Rice

Frozen peas

Fresh Carrots

Fresh Celery

Fresh Green Onions

Eggs

** I prefer using fresh vegetables rather than canned, as the texture stays firm. Frozen peas are preferable than canned as well.

This is so good, try it!

NO Chopsticks? I'll SUEY!

Did I ever tell you about the time when Alan took me out to the Tokyo Steakhouse?
We decided to drain our bank account to eat at this fancy restaurant -- you know, the one where you share a table with a bunch of strangers, watch your chef chop, cook, and swing his knife --- tossing chunks of food across the table into your mouths?

I'm one of those people who's BIG on atmosphere. I've been known to walk out of a restaurant because they sat me near the bathrooms. I hate facing walls, and I want my restaurant to be clean and comfy. I'm a real down-to-earth person and atmosphere is JUST as important to me (if not more) than the food itself.

Interpretation: I'd rather have a bologne sandwich on the beach, than a steak in a shack!

Well, I was already feeling guilty for spending so much money. The entertainment was fun, the strangers beside me were warming up and the food was looking really good.

So picture me, running off and buying a set of Asian plates, bowls, teapots, and chopsticks, just so I could capture that atmosphere at home...

And then finding out at this restaurant ---- they didn't have CHOPSTICKS! They ran out of chopsticks, so they handed me a fork. I felt cheated. And broke.

Nope, they'll never live it down.

BEFORE the STORM

http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/?area=&lang=eng

We've been watching the news all morning -- trying to figure out where IKE is going to STRIKE!

We are in SO desperate need of rain that we really REALLY need the rain! (I'm repeating myself!)

But I AM concerned about wind damage. As for flooding --- not concerned, as our house is on a hill.

Yesterday, the weather station was placing a Category II over the Austin area. Hhmmm...

Alan says his job is telling everyone to stay home on Saturday. Josh called and said his job asked him to resubmit his emergency contact information (he has to work Saturday.)

Regardless, we are dragging our potted garden plants and patio furniture to the back porch. Going to lay the basketball goal down on its side, pull down our umbrellas and maybe park our car on our lawn under the trees... Our garage? Don't ask!

As for provisions and water, we've been PREPARED for quite some time. As you've noticed in my earlier blog posts, my family is GUNG HO about emergency preparedness. We have food, medicine, water, candles, batteries---you name it, stashed away for these types of emergencies. I feel pretty good about not having to dash to the store. We even have emergency cash put away. The only thing we need to do is GET GAS! ((Alan, if we forgot to do this already, can you please fill up the tank?!))

During our walks, we pass this lovely vine...

We ARe disappointed that we may miss out on CAVE DAY this Saturday. This was the second installment of Cedar Park's public opening of "free cave day"... Pamela and I were looking forward to spelunking again over the weekend. On top of that, this SUNDAY was FREE MUSEUM day too...

I guess it all depends on the weather what we'll do this weekend. Otherwise, we really need to stay home and clean house. The wedding's 2 weeks away and company'l be arriving!

Figuring we'll be getting rain over the weekend, Pamela and I walked to the creek today for some fresh water. Pamela has an aquarium now in my greenhouse and she's been feeding and raising the tadpoles and minnows that she had caught last week (Or was that the week before last?)

Alan came home for lunch and joined us at the creek. After he left, we splashed around and caught some minnows. We nearly caught a baby perch and I barely missed stepping on a snake.

Tunnel vision...

Can you see the clouds?

The ground is scorched!

We're home now and I'm looking at the clock.

TONIGHT, I'm cooking CHINESE for the boys. They'll be here at 6pm for our weekly "family night" tradition. I'm planning to cook chicken stir fry from scratch, and serve it with deep fried chicken wings, beef chow mein, chicken egg rolls, and hot green tea.

Pamela's baking chocolate chip cookies.

Well, time to roll up my sleeves.

TILL THEN!